Best Defender of the Match – Mohit Chillar (Bengaluru Bulls)

Best Raider of the Match – Rohit Kumar (Bengaluru Bulls)

FULL TIME U Mumba 27 – 28 Bengaluru Bulls

40’ U Mumba 27 – 28 Bengaluru Bulls - The last minute of the game here and Anup does not take any unnecessary risk. TIMEOUT called and green card for Mohit Chillar. fifteen seconds to go and Rakesh Kumar with the all crucial raid. MOHIT CHILLAR takes him down and it is ALL OVER. What a game. We can hardly catch our breath!! What a wonderful game!

39’ U Mumba 27 – 27 Bengaluru Bulls - U MUMBA are COMING BACK!! Anup Kumar gets Surender Nada this time and the lead is down to just one point. Anup forces the do or die raid on Rohit Kumar. Crucial raid here with over a minute to go. NO BONUS and U MUMBA are LEVEL. One minute to GO. What a match!!!!! Hang on! Bengaluru have reviewed the call. UNSUCCESSFUL. Stadium roars

38’ U Mumba 25 – 27 Bengaluru Bulls - Bengaluru have a do or die raid and Sumit SIngh is taken down by Jeeva Kumar. Lead down to seven and two men remaining on the mat. Anup Kumar makes it one and Ashish is the last man raiding. ALL OUT for U MUMBA. They are smelling a comeback here. The lead is down to four points and U Mumba review the call for the bonus. This is crucial. SUCCESSFUL Lead is down to three. This is stunning stuff. What a match. Anup raids in front of a full strength Bengaluru side. ANUP GETS IT. YOU BEAUTY!! Lead down to two

36’ U Mumba 19 – 27 Bengaluru Bulls - Rishank Devadiga raids and he must get it right. HE DOES and HOW. Rohit Kumar is sent out of the mat and the voice of U Mumba fans is coming back. Bulls are down to just three men and Anup Kumar completes the raid quickly to play on defence. Bengaluru rightly take a timeout to stop U Mumba’s momentum and drill some sense into his boys. They just need to run down the clock now.

34’ U Mumba 18 – 27 Bengaluru Bulls - Is that curtains for U Mumba in this game and perhaps the tournament? Bengaluru have pulled a bull out of the hat and the stadium is stunned in silence. Bengaluru are leading by 12 points and only magic can bring U Mumba back. Meanwhile, Anup pulls two back and takes out the two corners. DO or die raid for Vinod Kumar and he is taken down. Lead is down to nine points. Do we have a game on again?

31’ U Mumba 15 – 27 Bengaluru Bulls - Anup Kumar has been tackled AGAIN and U Mumba are down to three men again. Bengaluru combine again with Surender Nada and U Mumba are down to two men. Just when it looks like Rohit will get them. Surjeet and Jeeva effect a SUPER TACKLE. Lead is still 10 points though. U Mumba get another point. Rishank fails with a tackle and the All Out is on. ALL OUT!!!

28’ U Mumba 11 – 20 Bengaluru Bulls - Rakesh Kumar takes on the responsibility of getting a point back but forces a do or die raid. Surjeet gets U Mumba off in the second half and they get it a tackle point. Over 14 minutes remaining in the second half and Mumbai have a mountain to climb. Rohit Kumar has been sublime tonight but U Mumba have a lot in their tank. Anup Kumar raids after the technical timeout but gets nothing. Rohit raids and looks imperious. He tries a kick and gets it on Gurvinder. What form Rohit is in tonight. Suresu with the do or die raid and Mohit gets the ankle hold. This is slipping out of U Mumba’s grasp. Lead by nine points.

25’ U Mumba 10 – 18 Bengaluru Bulls - Play resumes after All Out and Anup Kumar is sent back once again by Ashish Sangwan to extend Bengaluru’s lead to 7 points. Nothing working for U Mumba as Rishank Devadiga gets tackled as well. Mohit Chillar this time. U Mumba are looking off colour and they need to get back in the game soon. U Mumba call a time out.

23’ U Mumba 10 – 16 Bengaluru Bulls – The second half resumes with Anup Kumar raiding for the home team and the bonus is on. He gets tackled by Mohit Chillar and Bengaluru draw first blood in the second half. Super Tackle on with Rohit Kumar raiding and he gets the touch off Jeeva Kumar. U Mumba are down to two men and staring at an All Out. It is up to Rakesh Kumar to prevent the same. He gets tackled by Rohit Kumar. The captain leading from the front. ALL OUT!!!!

We are underway again!!!!

HALF TIME U Mumba 10 – 10 Bengaluru Bulls

20’ U Mumba 10 – 10 Bengaluru Bulls – The home side is well on top here and Bengaluru need inspiration. That is exactly what they get from their captain Rohit Kumar, who gets two touch points. Rishank comes on for a do or die raid and Mohit Chillar combines with Ashish Sangwan to draw level. Suddenly U Mumba have four men on the mat as Ashish Sangwan raids. He goes back. Anup raids in the last minute of the first half and looks to get a toe touch. He plays safe. Rohit Kumar comes on to raid for Bengaluru and he pushes U Mumba deep into their half. HALF TIME. We are level.

17’ U Mumba 10 – 7 Bengaluru Bulls – Over five minutes to go in the first half and Rakesh Kumar raids with the crowd roaring. He is spurred on and goes into the left corner to get yet another running hand touch. Gets Jeeva Gopal and sends him out. Pawan Sehrawat is tackled down by Jeeva Kumar and Rakesh Kumar, who screams like a warrior. Anup raids with the Super Tackle on but plays safe. Ball in Bengaluru’s court as Rohit raids. Gets nothing.

14’ U Mumba 8 – 7 Bengaluru Bulls – Anup Kumar gets a bonus point to reduce the deficit to just one point. Bengaluru have looked good but U Mumba’s approach has been that of caution and tactical clarity. They are taking their time and not being unnecessarily proactive. Anup is ensuring that he remains on court and he forces a do or die raid on Vinod Kumar. NEARLY!!! Rakesh Kumar holds on to the raider’s hand and U Mumba draw level. Rakesh Kumar gets the running hand touch on former teammate Surender Nada to put his team in the lead. Typical U Mumba.

11’ U Mumba 5 – 7 Bengaluru Bulls – Another roar here as Rakesh Kumar raids for U Mumba and plays for the do or die. Vinod Kumar raids and he takes Jeeva out the court with himself. Bengaluru want a bonus point as well and they review the decision. SUCCESSFUL. Bengaluru are in the lead now. Do or die raid for U Mumba and it is Gurvinder, who attacks in front of a high line and Bengaluru double their lead through former U Mumba man Surender Nada.

9’ U Mumba 4 – 4 Bengaluru Bulls – You have to hand it to Anup Kumar and the way he raids without any pressure on his face. Keeps smiling. Empty raid from the U Mumba captain and then Rohit Kumar gets a touch off Surjeet. Rishank immediately negates that by getting a touch point off Ashish. Is Rishank Devadiga back? Both teams are level at 4 apiece. This is looking to be a tasty contest and U Mumba are taking it easy.

6’ U Mumba 3 – 3 Bengaluru Bulls – Rishank continues from where he left off towards the end of the last game and gets the diving hand touch on Mohit Chillar. U Mumba are on board here and now look to take the initiative with Gurvinder raiding. He gets the bonus and its a do or die raid for Pawan Sehrawat. Nothing doing as Rakesh Kumar shows who is boss. Covers him and pulls back. Surender makes a lapse of concentration and loses the raid. Level at 3-3 here.

3’ U Mumba 0 – 2 Bengaluru Bulls – The away side starts proceedings and Rohit Kumar takes the responsibility. He picks up a point straight away by getting a running hand touch on Surjeet. The crowd roars and it is Anup Kumar who raids for the home side. He tries to get a toe touch on Mohit Chillar but is unable to. Unperturbed, he smiles and walks back. Bengaluru get the bonus and they are away with a two point lead.

Patna Pirates have made a big statement with a clinical win over Puneri Paltan to grab a place in the semi-finals and that leaves two spots up for grabs, one of which will be aimed by U Mumba, who would bee looking to get a win against Bengaluru tonight. We are moments away from the start. Line-ups coming next.

Good evening friends and welcome to live coverage of the second match from the last day of Pro Kabaddi 2016 Season 4’s Mumbai leg and we will be concluding this exciting installment with a cracking game between hosts U Mumba and Bengaluru Bulls. This is an interesting match up in a lot of aspects and the story of two sides with contrasting positions but similar problems.

U Mumba were shocked last night at home when they were handed a loss by an unlikely opposition in Bengal Warriors, who played probably the best kabaddi of their entire season. Though U Mumba pulled a lot back at the end to secure a point, they ended up giving away a great chance to put one leg into the semi-finals. Had Mumbai won last night, they would have had 40 points with two games remaining, thereby keeping their destiny within self-control.

However, now U Mumba will need to win both remaining games and hope other results go their way as well. Mumbai have been highly patchy this season and bursts of brilliance have combined with self-destruction and lack of application. In fact, to put things clearly, Anup Kumar’s leadership and performances are the reason why they are still in the hunt for a semi-final spot.

Rishank Devadiga, their star raider from last season, has been terribly out of form, albeit he showed glimpses of his former self towards the end of last night’s game. Anup has been doing the bulk of the raiding with the occasional support from Suresu Kumar, who looks set for a bright future in Pro Kabaddi. Defensively, Jeeva Kumar has had a poor season and U Mumba clearly look like they miss Vishal Mane, Fazel Atrachali and Mohit Chillar.

Despite all their woes and worries, U Mumba have managed to stay afloat in the league and they will need to win big tonight against Bengaluru Bulls, who themselves have had a pretty harsh campaign. However, league position and form hardly matter as we saw last night what Bengal Warriors did to U Mumba. Thus, the home side will need to bring in their A game tonight, if they want to have a chance of making it to the semi finals.

Bengaluru Bulls, U Mumba’s opponents, will come into this match with no pressure whatsoever and that could work in their favour. They are currently languishing on seventh position with 26 points from 12 matches and qualification is out of the question. All they can look to do tonight is spoil the party for U Mumba and try to build their team for the next season. One department that they clearly need to boos is attack as there is too much pressure on Rohit Kumar.

Though it came too late in the season, Bengaluru’s strategy of resting Rohit in the first half and make use of him in the second half, when the opposition defence is tired, worked like magic as they came back from behind to beat host Bengal Warriors. This strategy might not work against a side like U Mumba, which will be charged tonight and possess a really complete line-up.

Rohit, however, could target Jeeva Kumar, who has been off form for the entire season. Mohit Chillar and Surender Nada will return to their former home ground and will be up against Anup Kumar, whom they know really well. Anup Kumar would need to be stopped if Bengaluru are to have any sort of chance tonight.